


born to fly

by joshllyman



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Dragons, First Kiss, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:00:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23488720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joshllyman/pseuds/joshllyman
Summary: Tetsurou covers Koutarou’s hand with his own. “Is there anything I can do to help?”Koutarou shakes his head. “I’m fine, really. Thanks for checking, though. You’re a good friend, Tetsurou.”Koutarou gets up to clean his breakfast plate. His back is hunched and he looks miserable.Tetsurou has to find a way to help, and quickly.
Relationships: Bokuto Koutarou/Kuroo Tetsurou
Comments: 14
Kudos: 63





	born to fly

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Catastra_Fey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catastra_Fey/gifts).



> cat, you basically gifted me this entire fic, so the least i can do is gift it back to you. thank you so much for your support and love on this fic and always <3

There’s something wrong with Koutarou.

Tetsurou’s been watching him the last several days and he’s just been...off. His smiles aren’t reaching his eyes the way they always do. His laughs haven’t been as loud. He hasn’t been making it a point to say hello to literally everyone in the cafeteria in the mornings. It’s left Tetsurou feeling confused and worried.

And those feelings definitely have nothing to do with the crush Tetsurou harbors for his roommate. He’s worried. As a friend would be worried. And that’s all.

Breakfast is a quiet affair. Koutarou is picking half-heartedly at his eggs. Their usual table consists of the other four riders in their class. Kei and Tobio are bickering at each other much more quietly than usual. Tsutomu seems more asleep than not. Yui shoveled down her eggs and left before Tetsurou even got the chance to say hello.

Tetsurou reaches over and pokes Koutarou in the shoulder. “You alright?”

Koutarou heaves a long sigh. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Tetsurou frowns. “Koutarou, you just tried to drink your juice with a chopstick.”

Koutarou looks down and finds that Tetsurou is right. He sighs again and pushes his breakfast away from him. 

“I’m just missing my family, I think,” Koutarou confesses. “And Keiji. It’s hard to be away from them and not know what they’re up to.”

Tetsurou understands this, to an extent. He’d left his own best friend to come to learn the ways of dragon riding, too. Tetsurou considers himself an extrovert but with his father away most of his childhood and his mother working, he’d spent a lot of time alone. Koutarou is more well-off, and it seems from what he’s told Tetsurou that he was almost never alone growing up, and Keiji was with him more often than not, too. 

Tetsurou covers Koutarou’s hand with his own. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Koutarou shakes his head. “I’m fine, really. Thanks for checking, though. You’re a good friend, Tetsurou.”

Koutarou gets up to clean his breakfast plate. His back is hunched and he looks miserable.

Tetsurou has to find a way to help, and quickly.

\---

His plan is hatched that afternoon in flying class. They’ve been practicing a tricky maneuver recently, a forward roll followed by a sharp dive, and while Tetsurou has it down pat, Koutarou has been struggling. It’s been hard to watch, partly because Tetsurou knows what Koutarou’s been going through, and partly because Tetsurou’s dragon, a blue male named Kaito, is mated to Koutarou’s dragon, a green female named Masaaki, and has been emanating stress signals into Tetsurou all afternoon. 

“I know,” Tetsurou says, coming around to Kaito’s front. Kaito bows his head low to touch Tetsurou’s forehead, and Tetsurou leans against him. “They’ll get it, don’t worry. They just need practice.”

Kaito huffs warm air around him, which Tetsurou knows means he’s doubtful. 

“You should have more faith in your mate,” Tetsurou says. 

Kaito bumps him hard enough that he stumbles; he has plenty of faith in his mate. It’s Koutarou he doubts.

Tetsurou laughs. “Alright, alright, I get it. It’s fine, Koutarou will get the hang of it. Wait--Kaito, you’re a genius.”

Kaito briefly rests his head on top of Tetsurou’s, as if to say  _ obviously _ .

Tetsurou turns around and watches as Masaaki and Koutarou fail again. Koutarou returns to land and leads Masaaki over to Tetsurou and Kaito. Tetsurou does his best to block out his dragon’s aura, because when he gets around Masaaki it usually gets pretty sappy.

Koutarou huffs as he watches them. “At least they’re happy.”

“You’re gonna be fine, Koutarou,” Tetsurou says, reassuring him the way he’d reassured Kaito. He reaches out and puts a hand on Koutarou’s shoulder. “You guys just need more practice.”

“You got it on the first try,” Koutarou points out.

Tetsurou shrinks into himself a bit. He’s always been a natural with the dragons; he’d earned his way into the academy rather than buying it the way a lot of students did. Koutarou, too, had earned his way in, and while he and Masaaki are just as close as Tetsurou and Kaito, they have always struggled more with flying in sync.

“Tsutomu hasn’t gotten it yet,” Tetsurou observes, turning Koutarou around so he can see the way Tsutomu fails to pitch into the dive after the forward roll. “And neither has Kei.”

“You have, though,” Koutarou argues. “You and Tobio and Yui all have it down.”

“So it’s half and half,” Tetsurou points out. “You’re gonna be fine, Koutarou. You’re just feeling it more because of everything else you’re thinking about.”

Kaito and Masaaki have snuggled up beside each other. Koutarou goes over and sits against Masaaki’s flank, and the dragon curls up around him. 

“See,” Tetsurou says, sitting next to Masaaki’s tail. “It’s not that Masaaki doesn’t trust you. You and she just need a little more time on this one.”

Koutarou leans his head back. “If we get too far behind we’ll never catch up. If you and I get put into different classes they’ll separate Masaaki and Kaito, and then she’ll never forgive me.”

“Is that what you’re worried about?” Tetsurou asks. He reaches over and puts his hand on Koutarou’s knee. “That’s not gonna happen, Koutarou. They’ll keep us together. They’ll keep them together.”

“Not if I keep fucking up,” Koutarou grumbles.

Their teacher calls for the end of class. Kaito and Masaaki reluctantly get up, and Masaaki uses her teeth to drag Koutarou to his feet.

“Coulda done that myself,” Koutarou says, but he reaches out and pats Masaaki’s nose anyway.

Masaaki and Koutarou take off, and Kaito huffs and nudges Tetsurou, more gently this time.

_ You know I can feel how you’re feeling _ , he’s saying, and Tetsurou frowns.

“I’m not feeling anything,” he lies. He mounts Kaito, and as they fly back toward the stables he starts to formulate ideas in his head.

\---

Tetsurou waits until the moon is high in the sky that night before he puts his plan into action. It’s a clear night, perfect for flying, and he knows Kaito and Masaaki will be more than eager to help him with his plan.

Tetsurou stands on his bunk and pokes Koutarou in the side. “Wake up.”

Koutarou groans and rolls over. “It’s not morning, there’s no sun outside.”

“Technically the sun is still outside, it’s just not in view on this side of the world, but your point stands,” Tetsurou says. “Anyway I know it’s not morning, there’s something I wanna show you.”

“Curfew,” Koutarou mumbles.

“When has that ever stopped us?”

“When I’m tired,” Koutarou says. “Leave me alone.”

“Nope.” Tetsurou pokes Koutarou in the side again, right under the ribs where he knows Koutarou is ticklish, and Koutarou whacks at his hand.

“Tetsurou! I’m serious!”

“So am I. Come on, let’s go, we don’t have all night.”

Koutarou rolls over and glares at Tetsurou. Tetsurou glares right back, making sure Koutarou knows he’s serious. They have a bit of a staring contest until Koutarou finally sighs and sits up. His hair is everywhere, even more than usual, and Tetsurou tries not to laugh at him.

“You’re cleaning my plates at every meal for a week,” Koutarou says as he climbs down the stairs.

“Fine,” Tetsurou agrees. “Make it two.”

Koutarou gives him a strange look, but Tetsurou takes his hand and drags him out of their dorm room without much regard for it.

“Why are you dressed?” Koutarou hisses as they sneak through the hallways.

“Going outside,” Tetsurou answers. “Now hush before Nekomata catches us.”

Tetsurou knows he probably doesn’t need to keep holding Koutarou’s hand, but it’s easier that way to make sure he hasn’t turned tail and gone back to bed. He holds it all the way out to the stables.

“You aren’t seriously thinking about taking Kaito and Masaaki out, are you?” Koutarou asks. “We could get in huge trouble for that.”

“We’re not gonna get caught,” Tetsurou says confidently. “And you’re gonna get in some more practice on that roll-dive thing they’ve got us doing.”

“Tetsurou,” Koutarou whines. The other dragons all blink at them as they make their way to Kaito and Masaaki’s stall, and Tetsurou can feel the way each one of them dismisses their presence and goes back to sleep. “I really don’t think this is a good idea.”

“Then stop thinking about it,” Tetsurou suggests. They reach the adjoining stalls where Kaito and Masaaki are housed together, and Kaito lifts his head. Tetsurou gets a distinct wave of  _ this is not exactly what I had in mind _ from Kaito before he stands and nudges Masaaki to her feet.

Tetsurou saddles them both quickly while Koutarou yawns next to him. They lead the dragons out to the takeoff area and hop on. Tetsurou can’t help but feel exhilaration and adrenaline rushing through him. Dragon riding will never not be the coolest thing ever, and every time is like the first time.

“You ready?” he calls to Koutarou.

“Still think we shouldn’t do this,” Koutarou says.

“Let’s go!”

Kaito and Masaaki take off in unison, and if it weren’t the middle of the night Tetsurou would whoop in joy. The stars are innumerable tonight, dotting the sky from west to east, and he feels like he could touch the moon if he just reached far enough out. Kaito and Masaaki fly them over the forest for a bit, stretching their wings, and when Tetsurou gets a glimpse at Koutarou he can see his roommate is smiling, just slightly. Whether from Masaaki’s aura or from some happiness of his own, Tetsurou is glad Koutarou has found something to smile about.

“Take us down to the cliffs,” Tetsurou calls to Kaito, and Kaito does a sharp turn to heed his instructions.

Masaaki takes the lead as they approach their landing area. She’s just a bit faster than Kaito, but the two of them like to race anyway. Masaaki lands half a second before Kaito. Tetsurou hops off as soon as Kaito settles and approaches Masaaki and Koutarou.

“So the trick is to make it one motion instead of two,” Tetsurou says. “Think of it as continuing your roll forward instead of stopping the roll to go into the dive. Kaito and I can fly it with you if you want.”

“Might help to see it done,” Koutarou admits. “And their connection should help Masaaki get it even if I can’t.”

“You can,” Tetsurou insists. “Let’s practice, come on.”

Kaito and Tetsurou go once while Koutarou studies them, and then Tetsurou coaxes Koutarou into joining them. They go through the motion slowly, rolling and diving, and then practice combining them into one. Koutarou stumbles a few times, but he’s clearly getting there. Tetsurou directs Kaito to land again.

“Do it on your own,” Tetsurou calls.

Koutarou and Masaaki hover mid-air. “I really don’t think we can.”

“You can! I just watched you. You just need to speed it up.”

Tetsurou can see the way Koutarou takes a deep breath before guiding Masaaki upwards. Her powerful wings flap hard to take them further up into the night sky, and Tetsurou knows Koutarou does this, sometimes, to clear his mind: flies straight and high and dives down, feeling the adrenaline of the fall and the control of the maneuver. It still takes Tetsurou’s breath away every time.

Koutarou maybe isn’t afraid of anything at all, and it’s always blown Tetsurou away.

They dive down almost to the river far below before coasting upward again, and Koutarou directs Masaaki further out over the water. If they can pull the roll-dive off from where they’re starting, they’ll finish right in front of where Kaito and Tetsurou wait for them on the edge of the cliff. 

“You can do it, Kou!” Tetsurou shouts.

Whether or not Koutarou hears him is a mystery, but he raises both arms into the air and shouts before Masaaki begins to fly forward. He leans down close to her body and guides her into the roll. She flips forward once and then keeps going, diving down toward Kaito and Tetsurou. Kaito radiates happiness so hard that Tetsurou is overwhelmed, and Masaaki and Koutarou land on the cliffs beside them.

“You did it!” Tetsurou flings himself into Koutarou’s arms practically before his feet are on the ground, and they go down in a heap onto the grass. 

“I did it! I really did it!” Koutarou hugs Tetsurou hard around the waist, and they smile widely at each other before Tetsurou realizes he’s still on top of Koutarou and rolls off.

Masaaki and Kaito are giving off big couple vibes, and Tetsurou waves them off. They rise into the sky together, dancing and diving around each other. Tetsurou sits up on his elbows to watch them.

“They’re so happy together,” Koutarou sighs, and Tetsurou looks down at him.

“Yeah,” he agrees. “It’s nice to always have someone like that, you know? Someone you can count on.”

Koutarou gives him a curious look, but it passes before Tetsurou can call him on it. They watch their dragons some more before Koutarou gives a full body shiver.

“Wish you’d told me what we were doing,” he says. “You didn’t even give me the chance to get dressed and now I’m freezing.”

“I’ve got my cloak, come here,” Tetsurou says before he can stop himself.

Koutarou scoots closer to him, and Tetsurou wraps his arm and the cloak around Koutarou’s shoulders. Koutarou shivers again and presses himself to Tetsurou’s side.

“Better?” Tetsurou asks quietly.

“Yeah.” Koutarou lays his head against Tetsurou’s chest. “I’ll get there.”

Tetsurou tries to focus on watching his dragon, but Koutarou’s laying against him and can surely hear the way his heart is pounding in his chest. The crush he spends most of his time trying to ignore comes roaring back into his head with a vengeance.

“How do you think I’ll explain to everyone that I can suddenly do it tomorrow in class?” Koutarou asks, interrupting Tetsurou’s thoughts as he lifts his head up. His voice comes out as a whisper, as if their proximity necessitates quiet.

“Just tell them I explained it to you, if anyone asks,” Tetsurou answers. He grins. “It’s not exactly a lie.”

It’s not exactly the truth, either, but in this case what their classmates don’t know can’t hurt them. 

Koutarou sighs and lays his head back down. “You know, I heard a weird rumor about dragons and their riders.”

“Oh?” Tetsurou says, catching sight of Kaito and Masaaki racing down toward the river. “What’s that?”

Koutarou chuckles. “It’s kind of stupid, really. No way it could be true.”

“Tell me anyway,” Tetsurou says.

“Nah,” Koutarou says. “I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“You can’t just tease me like that,” Tetsurou argues. “Come on, Kou, spit it out.”

Koutarou rolls away. “Nope.”

“Koutarou!” Tetsurou rolls after him, and they laugh and wrestle. Koutarou is stronger, but Tetsurou is faster, and a minute later he successfully pins Koutarou to the ground, his hands on Koutarou’s wrists and his legs straddling Koutarou’s thighs.

Tetsurou’s hair falls forward into his face, and he shakes it away breathlessly. “I win. Now you gotta tell me.”

Koutarou looks up at him, blinking slowly. “I heard...I heard that the way dragons interact with each other can affect their riders.”

“What do you mean?” Tetsurou asks.

Koutarou bites his lip. “Like...if your dragons don’t get along, you won’t get along. Or if they’re in love…”

Tetsurou suddenly finds he can’t breathe.

“You fall in love,” Koutarou finishes.

Tetsurou realizes he’s still on top of Koutarou and backs away quickly, sitting up on his knees. Koutarou follows him, crossing his legs and studying his hands in his lap.

“But like I said,” he murmurs. “Stupid, right?”

“Right,” Tetsurou breathes.

The silence hangs heavy between them, and maybe it’s just Tetsurou, but he feels like he could slice through the tension with a swipe of Kaito’s wing.

“Maybe we should go to bed,” Tetsurou says.

Koutarou nods, still not meeting Tetsurou’s eyes. “Okay.”

Tetsurou stands and reaches out to Kaito with his mind. He and Masaaki have flown further off than Tetsurou had realized, and it’s going to take them a minute to get back. Koutarou stands and takes a step away from him.

“Sorry I brought it up,” Koutarou says, looking up at the sky. “Now it’s all weird.”

“It’s fine,” Tetsurou says. 

Koutarou kicks at a rock. Tetsurou stretches out his back, reaching down to touch his toes. They avoid looking at each other.

“Tetsurou--”

Koutarou is interrupted by a light shining up toward the cliff from below, and Tetsurou swears.

“Come on, into the trees!” he hisses, grabbing Koutarou’s hand.

They run further back away from the edge, and Tetsurou reaches out in his mind to tell Kaito to stay away for a bit. As he does, he can almost feel Koutarou next to him, telling Masaaki the same.

It’s just the adrenaline, he tells himself.

They run until they can still see the light but there’s no way they can be seen. Kaito and Masaaki have landed in a clearing a ways back, so now all there is is to wait it out.

“You think they know we’re up here?” Koutarou whispers.

“If they go into the stable they will,” Tetsurou answers.

Koutarou squeezes his hand; Tetsurou hadn’t realized he was still holding on. “It’s gonna be fine, right?”

“It’s gonna be fine,” Tetsurou answers.

They wait with bated breath, their chests heaving in synchrony, until the light disappears. Even then they watch for a little longer to make sure they’re clear and then they turn to each other.

Tetsurou isn’t sure who begins to laugh first, but once they start they can’t seem to stop. Tetsurou clutches at his stomach as Koutarou throws his head back. Tetsurou catches Koutarou’s eye just as he’s beginning to calm down, and that sets them off again, their peals ringing through the forest. Finally they quiet, and Tetsurou looks at Koutarou.

Koutarou smiles brightly at him for the first time in what feels like days. “Thank you for doing this for me. It really means a lot.”

Tetsurou has no idea what pushes him forward. He doesn’t consciously think about it. But suddenly he’s reaching out, pulling Koutarou to him, and pressing their lips together.

And then he can definitely feel Koutarou in his mind, the same way he can feel Kaito, and it takes his breath away. He pulls away like he’s been shocked.

“What...was that?” Tetsurou asks. “Did you feel that?”

“I felt it,” Koutarou confirms. “Tetsu, you kissed me.”

“I know I did,” Tetsurou says. “You kissed back.”

Koutarou looks at the ground. “I know I did. I...I really like you, Tetsurou.”

“You do?” Tetsurou asks. 

Koutarou laughs, and it comes out dry. “Why do you think I kissed back?”

“Well, why do you think I kissed you in the first place?” Tetsurou says. “I like you, too.”

“You do?”

“Of course I do, Kou. How could I not?”

Koutarou reaches over and takes his hand again, and Tetsurou laces their fingers together.

“Can we try kissing again?” Koutarou asks shyly. “I don’t know if that will happen every time, but maybe now that we’re ready for it…”

“We can control it better.” Tetsurou takes a deep breath and nods.

Koutarou hesitates, biting his bottom lip, before he leans forward and kisses Tetsurou. And their minds do meet again. Tetsurou can feel the wonder, the excitement that Koutarou is feeling, the nervousness simmering underneath. He reaches up and cups Koutarou’s cheek, and a surge of happiness bursts through it all.

Koutarou pulls away. “That’s...amazing.”

Tetsurou nods. “Amazing,” he agrees.

He feels Kaito nudging at his mind and calls him forward, and the boys and their dragons meet at the cliff’s edge. Koutarou and Tetsurou’s hands are still linked, and Kaito pushes his own wave of happiness toward them. And Tetsurou can feel Masaaki now, too, quieter, but her thrum is just as present as Kaito and Koutarou’s, just as joyful as theirs.

“This is wild,” Tetsurou breathes, and Koutarou nods, a bright grin on his face.

They mount their dragons and head back down toward the stables. Feeling all three of them in his head overwhelms Tetsurou, but in the best sort of way. When they lead Masaaki and Kaito back to the stables they take off their saddles and feed them extra snacks out of the treat bucket. Tetsurou goes down the line and grabs snacks for everyone else in their stable, too. They have to keep from giggling all the way back to their room, but they make it, somehow, and both collapse onto Tetsurou’s bunk.

Koutarou’s eyes are wide as he curls into Tetsurou’s side. “Is this okay?”

“More than okay,” Tetsurou says.

Koutarou ducks his head, but Tetsurou grabs his chin to kiss him again. Koutarou softens against him, yielding control, and Tetsurou gently licks past his lips.

“Try something with me,” Tetsurou murmurs.

“Anything,” Koutarou says.

Tetsurou kisses him again and conjures up the image of a key, and Koutarou responds with the image of a door. Koutarou shows an empty plate, and Tetsurou fills it with barbequed beef.

“That’s my favorite,” Koutarou says.

“I know,” Tetsurou says.

They go back and forth, presenting each other with puzzles as they kiss. It was a practice they did when they first came to the academy and were bonding with their dragons. It’s not long before they both get tired, and then they kiss with just the buzz of contentment bouncing back and forth between them.

“Hey, Tetsu,” Koutarou whispers, breaking away from their kiss. He touches Tetsurou’s lips gently with the pad of his thumb. “Do you think Masaaki and Kaito knew something we didn’t, when they chose us? Do you think they saw it all along?”

Tetsurou hums thoughtfully. “Maybe so,” he answers. “Kaito was always pushing me toward you.”

“Masaaki pushed me toward you, too,” Koutarou answers. He rests his chin on Tetsurou’s chest. “Maybe we were meant to be all along.”

Tetsurou runs his fingers through Koutarou’s hair, and Koutarou’s eyes flutter shut. “Maybe,” he agrees. “We should really get some sleep, you know.”

Koutarou lays beside him, curled tight against him. Tetsurou distinctly remembers seeing Masaaki and Kaito curled up like this at least once before. Something in the two of them must have resonated with the dragons. Maybe they saw themselves in Tetsurou and Koutarou.

Tetsurou kisses Koutarou’s forehead before he closes his eyes. Whatever Kaito and Masaaki saw, he’s lucky they brought him and Koutarou together. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks as always to my team  
> title from born to fly by sara evans which has nothing to do with dragons but whatever  
> links to socials in profile


End file.
